Ricky Rubio’s right arm carries a full sleeve of animal and floral work. Photographs show a lion or lioness, a cub and flowers, with a rose visible in one view.
Ricky Rubio’s lion and cub sleeve
The Star Tribune described a lioness and cub on Rubio’s right arm. Other published photographs show a large lion face surrounded by flowers.
The lion is shaded in detail, with the darkest work around its eyes, muzzle and mane. The cub is smaller and sits within the same composition.
A Sporting News photo shows Rubio seated with a basketball and the tattooed arm exposed. The lion remains the darkest and most visible part of the sleeve, with lighter space around the flowers.
The right arm portrait in close view
A Cleveland Cavaliers locker-room portrait gives a closer view of the right arm. The tattoo covers the shoulder and continues toward the forearm.
At this distance, petals and leaves show how the floral work fills around the animal portraits, leaving lighter spaces between shaded areas.
The reports don’t identify each flower species or give dates for the individual tattoo sessions.
The sleeve follows the shoulder and forearm
In a Cavaliers warm-up photo, Rubio stands in profile. As his arm bends, the shoulder and forearm still read as one connected sleeve.
Other basketball photos show the ink beside a jersey, ball or training top. The lion stays recognizable even when the tattoo isn’t the subject of the frame.
The rose appears in a separate angle
A Heraldo photo from Rubio’s return to training shows a rose among the larger designs. The image establishes that it is part of the sleeve but doesn’t explain its meaning.
The rose sits among flowers, leaves and shading around the lion and cub, adding another botanical detail to the arm.
The back view shows the full arm composition
A rear view shows how the sleeve wraps around the arm from shoulder toward forearm. It also reveals lettering-like marks near the back of Rubio’s neck.
The wording at his neck is too unclear in the photograph to transcribe reliably.
A private family history
Bleacher Report links the lion imagery to Rubio’s mother and says the tattoo honored her. The report also notes that he did not explain the full personal story.
The Star Tribune’s lioness-and-cub description fits the family connection, but the available sources don’t assign a separate meaning to each flower or other detail.
How the photographs fit together
Sporting News, Cavaliers, Heraldo and El Periódico photographs show the sleeve from seated, locker-room, warm-up, training and rear angles. Together they confirm the lion or lioness, cub, flowers and rose; Bleacher Report supplies the link to his mother, while the exact story remains private.